Port of Dhamara
Encyclopedia
Dhamra is a small community on the banks of the Dhamara River in the Bhadrak district of Orissa
state, India
.
It developed as a port around the 15th century AD.
The port was used for the coastal trade between northern Orissa and Kolkata
to the northeast, and continued to be used to a small extent after independence in 1947.
In April 1998 an agreement was signed to develop the Port of Dhamara, about seven kilometers away on the coast of the Bay of Bengal
, as a deep water port.
The temple of the Goddess Maa Dhamrai is located in the town. Some say that the goddess was brought from Sri Lanka
by a local merchant who frequently traded with that island. Others say that she came from a place named "Satabhaya". She was thrown into the sea by her sisters who were angered by her pure vegetarianism, and was found floating by some fishermen who brought her to Dhamra. After an earlier temple had been destroyed, the present temple was built over a ten-year period, opening around 1990.
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
state, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
It developed as a port around the 15th century AD.
The port was used for the coastal trade between northern Orissa and Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
to the northeast, and continued to be used to a small extent after independence in 1947.
In April 1998 an agreement was signed to develop the Port of Dhamara, about seven kilometers away on the coast of the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
, as a deep water port.
The temple of the Goddess Maa Dhamrai is located in the town. Some say that the goddess was brought from Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
by a local merchant who frequently traded with that island. Others say that she came from a place named "Satabhaya". She was thrown into the sea by her sisters who were angered by her pure vegetarianism, and was found floating by some fishermen who brought her to Dhamra. After an earlier temple had been destroyed, the present temple was built over a ten-year period, opening around 1990.